par Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 Can anyone tell me the purpose of the switch shown in the picture? It was located under the small panel right in front of the windshield base. https://goo.gl/photos/dfTdPRfvDYXHubDF8
kmyfm20s Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 Many pilots that would fly into Mexico would put those in to prevent people from hot wiring and stealing the plane.
22 others Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 (edited) <deleted> before I piss off a fellow Mooney driver. Edited January 17, 2016 by 22 others Deleted a captain obvious response that was not helpful
Andy95W Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 Prior to serial number 2342, Mooneys did not have a push to start feature on their ignition switches, which means that in the turn-to-start position the starter was energized simultaneously with the shower of sparks. The only problem with this was if you wanted to hand-prop your airplane. The switch in question would allow you to not engage the starter, but still energize the shower of sparks, for hand propping. Look under "Cold weather starting" in the attached picture:
takair Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 Learn something new every day. However, it seems to me that by the time you remove and reinstall the panels to flip the switch you could have gotten a jump start, in most cases. Anyone have much luck hand propping a Mooney with shower of sparks?
Andy95W Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 2 hours ago, takair said: Anyone have much luck hand propping a Mooney with shower of sparks? Yes, my first M20C back when it was brand new to me back in 1992. Worked well. No, I will never do it again.
carusoam Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 The amount of effort needed to turn the prop through the compression puts the average Mooney pilot incredibly close to the prop. Doing it singlehandedly could be dangerous. Without somebody to hold the key, would it work very well? It is in the category of too easy to make a big mistake. From Not setting the throttle properly to the tail tie down rope is old and it breaks. Standing in front of a runaway Mooney would be quite scary. watching somebody hand prop a Cub is interesting in comparison. They flip the prop through as if there is barely any compression. Best regards, -a-
Andy95W Posted January 17, 2016 Report Posted January 17, 2016 19 minutes ago, carusoam said: Without somebody to hold the key, would it work very well? Standing in front of a runaway Mooney would be quite scary. It definitely requires 2 people, one to hold the key to start to energize the shower of sparks / ground the right mag / advance the left mag and the other person to swing the prop. I had a flight instructor hold the key to start while I spun the prop. I was too young and felt too invulnerable to realize I was supposed to be scared, hence I'll never do it again. 1
par Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Posted January 17, 2016 Interesting find. My first thought was that it was an anti-theft device but that didn't make much sense. Mooneyspace wins again. 1
1964-M20E Posted January 18, 2016 Report Posted January 18, 2016 If the battery is dead enough no shower of sparks either. No I will not hand prop a 200HP Lycoming. Can it be done sure but not by me. JMHO Good idea to prevent unauthorized use of the airplane.
Recommended Posts